1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2013-218902 discloses a connector that has a housing with cavities, terminal fittings to be inserted into the respective cavities from behind and a retainer to be mounted into the housing from the front. A deflectable locking lance is provided at an inner wall of the cavity of the housing and a deflection space for the locking lance is open on the front surface of the housing. A guiding groove is provided on the inner surface of the lower wall of each cavity and extends in a front-back direction. Further, a forwardly open entrance groove is provided on a partition wall between the cavities and extends in the front-back direction of the housing. A lock receiving portion is provided at a position facing the entrance groove.
The terminal fitting includes a stabilizer projecting downwardly from the lower surface of a connecting portion. Further, the retainer includes a front wall for covering the front surface of the housing. Ribs project back from the rear surface of the front wall and retaining portions project back from the rear surface of the front wall and side by side with the ribs.
In the above configuration, the stabilizer enters the guiding groove to guide an inserting operation of the terminal fitting into the cavity of the housing. Further, the locking lance resiliently locks the connecting portion of the terminal fitting that has been inserted properly into the cavity and primarily prevents a movement of the terminal fitting out of the cavity. On the other hand, the retaining portions enter the deflection spaces for the locking lances when the retainer is mounted into the housing to restrict the deflection of the locking lances. In this way, the movement of the terminal fitting out of the cavity is prevented secondarily. Further, the ribs enter the entrance grooves when the retainer is mounted into the housing and locks on the ribs engage the lock receiving portions to prevent a movement of the retainer out of the housing.
The guiding grooves for guiding the insertion of the terminal fittings of the above-described conventional connector and the lock receiving portions for preventing the retainer from coming out are at different positions in the housing. Thus, the structure of a mold for forming the guiding grooves and the lock receiving portions may become complicated and there is difficulty molding small connectors.
The invention was completed based on the above situation and aims to provide a connector capable of preventing the complication of the structure of a mold and also dealing with small connectors.